‘It’s not the cross’ – Gareth Southgate insists he isn’t ‘creative’ enough to understand England’s flag design
Gareth Southgate appears to be in agreement with England fans who have been critical of the St George's Cross on the new kit.
The Three Lions unveiled their new shirt this week, but the overall design was overshadowed by the decision to replace the red and white England flag on the back of the collar to different colours.
2
The FA have since come out to defend the decision to alter the colours of the flag, but when quizzed on the design, Southgate delivered a prickly response.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's clash against Brazil, he said: "It's not been high on my list of priorities, it depends which bit it is.
"I don't know if the debate is about the St George's flag needing to be on the England shirt because it hasn't always been.
"The most important thing that has to be on an England shirt are the Three Lions. That's our iconic symbol.
READ MORE ON ENGLAND
"It is what distinguishes us not only from football teams around the world, but from England rugby and England cricket."
He added: "If you're asking should we be tampering with the cross of St George?
"In my head if it's not a red cross on a white background, then it isn't the cross of St George anyway. It's a hard question to answer really.
"It's presumably some artistic take which I'm not creative enough to understand."
Most read in Football
2
He added: "I am a huge patriot. I believe we should celebrate St George’s Day more than we do.
"People don’t think we should change the flag of St George.
“If it’s changed then it isn’t the flag of St George. So I’m a little bit lost with that element of it.
“I think they can put a quirky design together but you can’t say it’s the flag of St George because it isn’t. It’s therefore something else.”
Figures such as talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan, England record-cap holder Peter Shilton and Labour leader Keir Starmer have all voiced their displeasure at the multi-coloured flag.
However the FA explained the call, saying: "The new England 2024 home kit has a number of design elements which were meant as a tribute to the 1966 World Cup-winning team.
"The coloured trim on the cuffs is inspired by the training gear worn by England's 1966 heroes, and the same colours also feature on the design on the back of the collar. It is not the first time that different coloured St George's Cross-inspired designs have been used on England shirts.
"We are very proud of the red and white St George's cross - the England flag. We understand what it means to our fans, and how it unites and inspires, and it will be displayed prominently at Wembley tomorrow - as it always is - when England play Brazil."
England vs Brazil is live on talkSPORT from 7pm
Topics